– The WWF is reportedly considering adding a weekly Saturday PPV show, according to trade journal reports. – Latest figures are in, and WCW is looking like a 0. Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1. 11-4-1991. He’ll return for real on 11/20, but will be false advertised as appearing in tag team matches on the road against the Enforcers and subbed out when the show starts. 11. 28. – Dave notes that speaking of network TV, ABC was filming an episode of 20/20 at the MSG show, and one of the reporters asked Dr. – Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. 11th January 2017 by Scott Keith. Main event is. WWE News. But goddamn is “Eyes of a Stranger. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. Ocr. By Scott Keith on 27th October 2016. There’s a big main event at the Tokyo Dome! And it sure didn’t go down how anyone expected. 29. Ah, wrestling, where one guy can beat up another guy for real and flush his head in the toilet for riding with his ex-girlfriend and people are just like “Eh,. (Just wait until Slamboree. 95, which is good but well below the 2. – So things are getting mighty crowded on TBS, in what would turn out to be a giant turning point for the wrestling industry. The main event saw Tito Santana beating Bob Orton for the newly created AWF title in a *3/4 match. 0 number predicted by. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. The debut of Giant Gonzalez (who was “wearing Ultimate Warrior’s old underwear”) perked things up again. By Scott Keith on 20th September 2016. – On the bright side, Warrior v. Until then, there’s the Clash! – Dave was in Japan for DreamSlam (very short version: It was an amazing show) and missed the Clash of Champions from Jacksonville, but to say it wasn’t well received would be an. Also, the fears about Sting winning the IWGP title from Muta proved unfounded, as Muta retained in a disappointing match where he was trying to be The Great Muta instead of Keiji Muto. D if wrestling was fake and got slapped around pretty good as a result. Couldn’t do this one last night, because Daredevil is a thing that exists. 18. 10-21-1991. Terry Funk has retired. 96 Apparently it’s time for WCW to get rowdy. ABBYY FineReader 11. 88. Buyrate looks to be between 0. – Speaking of wanting to be in business with them, Jimmy Hart debuts in March as Greg Valentine’s manager, and King Kong Bundy debuts to have terrible matches with Hogan. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. – In the top story, the WWF held a press conference, which got more attention in Mexico, to announce that Royal Rumble 97 would be held in the Alamo Dome in San. – Vince McMahon is apparently planning to sue Sgt. OK, 2005 posts are FINALLY complete, and I got to see Star Wars, so let’s get back to Observing. By Scott Keith on 1st June 2019. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. By Scott Keith on 29th August 2016. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. 23. The suit alleges unfair competition, trademark. I like how even the editors of the Observer site are scoring off Dave with the headline on this one. To the news!This is up for them, and Dave notes what a great night for wrestling that Thanksgiving really is, because even Central States almost drew money! Later, he corrects a previous title change, noting that Art Crews actually won the TV title from Gary Royal on 11/27 in Ft. – In the top story, the Justice Department dropped one of the charges against Titan Sports. He says he was promised $2,500 and they only paid him $1,500. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. The. 89. 26. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. Obviously, doctors gave him some mumbo-jumbo diagnosis about “severe spinal disc and sciatic nerve damage”, and. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. – Speaking of New Japan, they sold out 5 consecutive nights at Sumo Hall for the G1 Climax, ending with IWGP champion Keiji Muto becoming the first reigning champion to win the tournament, taking out Shinya Hashimoto in the finals. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. 2 victory. – There’s very little going on due to Christmas, but Jerry Lawler did regain the USWA title from Koko B. Louis is finally over, and the WWF has won. 16. 95. Nasties sold well at least. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. The Twin Towers beat the Rockers at 8:02 when Akeem splashed and pinned Michaels. 10-28-1991. I just don’t think things are gonna work out for that promotion. 95. history-of-wcw. -The Mondo 19 most intriguing personalities of ‘86-30 key pro wrestling personalities of ‘86 with quick bios-Observer Awards, leading news stories of. 96. 23. Big stuff in the news this week, and the start of the biggest shift in coverage in the history of the Observer. In fact, even today I’m not sure that those title switches are counted as part of the “real” count of Flair’s title reigns because the NWA did such a bang-up job of denial that. By Scott Keith on 3rd October 2019. – Dave feels that the team of Sting & Rick Steiner are improving so rapidly that they’ll be one of the best in the world by the summer. OK, let’s try this one more time. 26. Well, amazingly he no-showed and they had to quickly contact another local promoter for some jobbers (there were only four name guys even booked for the. 5 million as a startup amount and NOW got $480,000, and once they’ve blown through that, he’s done. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. By Scott Keith on 15th March 2021. 96. Collection. 03. Tenryu as the main event of a show on 2/7. 06. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. It’s kind of hard to say what to expect around here as the show has been bouncing back and forth between focusing on the Intercontinental Title feud and then the World Title situation. 18. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. 27. – The show drew 7000 with 4700 paid and a $94,000 house. 5-4-1987. Anyway, back to 1985 again… – The big news is that the war in St. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 25. It’s the year end awards issue! Lots to argue about here, I’m sure. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 20. – Michinoku Pro debuted on 3/16 to huge amounts of local publicity, since they’re the first attempt at a regional promotion in the country. Apparently Bret Hart’s negotiations with WCW were so potentially fruitful that someone else is wanting to give it a try. Topics. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. – Mexico’s wrestling companies are gearing up for a full-scale strike of wrestlers and referees, with syndicate head Manny Guzman calling for job action over EMLL’s network TV deal. 1984 Dave would chime in with “but luckily WWF isn’t wrestling” or something equally snarky, but mellower 1986. They of course had an immediate roster of excuses, mainly that it was scheduled on a night with really tough competition on TV. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Spoiler: Dave gives WarGames 3/4. 95. ” (Now there’s an understatement!) – Based on current trends and advertising, SuperBrawl is looking to do. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Crockett! Dusty v. Pillman was a little rusty but still got an excellent match out of Wright. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. – In Japan, SWS continues to alienate Japanese wrestling fans by booking WARLORD v. tesseract 5. For It’s Time. Big John Tenta pinned Koji Kitao with an elbowdrop in 6:10. 2. – Inoki’s business-killing freakshow ended up drawing 11,000 people for somewhere between $800,000 – $1. Topics. In fact, Dave thinks that people’s hatred of the dancing gimmick is overshadowing how much he’s improved as a worker. 27th May 2016 by Scott Keith. Bobby Eaton pinned Chip the Firebreaker in 4:52 with a back suplex. Dave also lists the match with the Rock N Roll Express v. – Dan Severn won the Ultimate Ultimate on 12/16 in Denver after all the controversy over the show, beating Oleg Taktarov in the finals via unanimous decision. The New Foundation beat the Orient Express in 17:18. They’re owned by Jody Hamilton (Nick Patrick’s dad) and they do about 200 people per show. 6. 96. 96 Can I make it more than two weeks in a row? TUNE INTO NITRO TO FIND OUT! – In our top story this week, UFC presented the Ultimate Ultimate 2! Dave is really into this shit all of a sudden. – Although the WWF had “by far” the superior show, WCW won the ratings battle with a 2. 567. Shawn Special Edition! Okey doke, so in the 1997 RAW rants thus far, we’ve alluded to the all the crazy stuff happening behind the scenes with Bret and Shawn, but what EXACTLY was that? Well, Dave was covering it extensively in the Observer at the time, so here’s a mini-Flashback covering the top. 95 I love that the teaser for this one on the site is “Hotline sleaze award winner” because really it could be ANYTHING coming out of Mean Gene’s mouth. 4. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. Wrestlemania III was the best wrestling. I feel like that can’t be a coincidence. I’m still not 100% clear on how we got from “Jim Crockett attempts to run Florida into the ground” to “Jim Crockett buys Florida and uses it as a feeder system for his own promotion”, but I’m sure we’ll get there. 92. – The Ole Anderson & Gordon Solie version of World Championship Wrestling returned to TBS on 8/13, so in fact we missed the entire Black Saturday era! – The Road Warriors won the AWA tag team titles from the Crusher & the Baron as Dave breathes a sigh of relief, and apparently this was booked very last minute because Vince. – Dave gets a funny bit when he notes that ever since taking over as booker, Dundee has suddenly gained amazing recuperative powers in his matches. 04. – Eddie Gilbert was found dead in his apartment in Puerto Rico on 2/18, at age 33. wrestlingmagazinesmisc;. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Everything is confusing and it’s all centering on the AWA. 21. -. 09. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. Dusty is certainly the top candidate, and that theory is bolstered by the house show results from the past week, which saw Dusty doing 90 second jobs to VIRGIL at every show. This hold up comes on the heels of two other major stories: Hennig is supposed to be heading to WWF, meanwhile. 23. Dave sarcastically notes that “it sure turned Brett Sawyer. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. 30. Kayfabe Commentaries Releases Newest Installment of Their “Supercard” Series. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Dec. – Bam Bam Bigelow is trying to get into the WWF, but word from on high is that he’s “too inexperienced”. While it seemingly wasn’t a major milestone in his life at that. 95. Ric Flair (“He’s slowed down a bit”) 2. But don’t be fooled by the Slow News, as two major promotions actually reach their finales this week, although we didn’t realize it at the time. – Once again, it’s time for the most awesome feature in Observer Flashback history: – Our favorite whipping boy promotion, the UWF, debuted in New York with a TV taping, and surprisingly both Honky Tonk. This group will likely merge in and out with SWS and make appearances on their shows, and will have the pro wrestling ga-ga that Fujiwara wanted to work into the UWF promotion originally. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 95. Rants. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. Hosted by Sean Oliver, he welcomes guest the Honky Tonk Man as he talks about SummerSlam ’88. Wrestling Observer Flashback –04. On May 2 they did an angle where the AWA World title was held up following a Bockwinkel/Hennig match where Hennig used a foreign object. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. – Dave calls it a very good show overall, and somehow by adding up all the people in Greensboro (16K give or take) plus all the closed circuit locations, comes up with a figure of 42,000 and thus declares it the #2 crowd in North American wrestling history. 26. 10. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. 1985. I’m not. 95. Sid actually drew pretty big on the East coast, doing 11,000 at the Nassau Coliseum and 8000 in Philly. – Fall Brawl was great undercard wrestling, bad main event, and booking filled with more holes than Swiss Cheese. Steve Jennum was put into the finals as a last-minute. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. 95. Brian Pillman pinned Badstreet with a flying bodypress in the light heavyweight tournament semi-final at 6:52. window replacement in Elkhart, IN. Chelsea Anne Cardona (née: Green; born April 4, 1991) is a Canadian professional wrestler, stuntwoman, and model. I know, I know, I’ll give you a minute to let it sink in. By Scott Keith on 18th October 2016. 6. I know this year has been a slog, but we’re getting closer to September, when the magic happens! But first, WWF returns to your house! Whether you wanted them there or not. 88. 16. Michaels worked his ass off, although it came out later that he was hungover and stoned at the time. 03. Dave runs down the TV shows over the past month and it’s all classic stuff, like the Magnum TA-Mr. Wrestling Observer / Figure Four. It drew a legit sellout of 5708 to West Palm Beach. – Brad Armstrong will be coming back again, this time as the Candy Man, who throws candy to the kids as his gimmick. 96 You know, for someone so washed up and done as a top guy, Ric Flair sure keeps winning World titles, doesn’t he? – Let us take you back to 1989, as Ric Flair came off a big year with memorable matches against Rick Steamboat and Terry Funk, but the year was a failure for Turner. – Reportedly, World champion Mike Tyson has signed with the WWF to referee a match. It’s like Wrestlemania, but for NEWS. The government side says it’s for “tactical reasons”, while the WWF. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. 94 (Part 2) – In the only non-tournament match on the show, Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck won the tag titles from the Public Enemy after Terry Funk missed his flight and couldn’t make the show. 2. According to Dave’s minions, there was confusion about. 94. Louis Wrestling Club from running. Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1. So with the year in PPV finally caught up, let us venture back to the world of 1994 again, with rumors of Hulk Hogan. Dusty missed a blind charge and got pinned by Ted for the finish, ending his WWF career. – Next up TV ratings, which went from an average of 2. 28. Well this was all well and good, but wrestling magazines found out about it and started publishing stories and photos, and the NWA had to go into coverup mode. It was basically just a backdrop for the Virgil babyface turn. – To the WWF, where Wrestlemania III passed 70,000 tickets sold, officially making it the largest crowd ever to witness a wrestling show in North America. 15th September 2023 by Scott Keith Rants Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 5. Earthquake John Tenta was scheduled to work a tour for EMLL in Mexico, but left after one show, claiming he was stiffed on his payoff. And NOW the main event! Hog Wild 96 and the introduction of the Observer Hall of Fame awaits! This one took me a little bit longer to write than last night’s quickie, obviously. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Well, that probably won’t happen again for a while. 96 (I’m putting this one in the can a few days earlier than publication so if there’s any pop culture references that age badly, blame me. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Dave is pretty sure Gonzalez will draw as long as he’s never allowed to touch anyone ever. Man, so people REALLY did not like that In Your House show. 95. 23. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. – Actually, first it’s a bit of political talk, as Hiroshi Hase won election to the senate in Japan. Winner of the 2016 Doomie Award for Favorite Blog Post!. They even flew in Steve DiSalvo as part of the ring crew to. 16. – Flair defended the World title on a pair of Mid-South shows in Oklahoma, but there’s no plans or indications of Watts joining the NWA. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. Sorry. And now it’s time for the issue that kicks off one of the biggest stories in the history of wrestling, although we didn’t realize it at the time. Guys, it sounds like the Diamond Studd will soon be appearing in WCW again! We’ll see how that goes for them. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. – Antonio Inoki is trying to get into the boxer v. ”) 3. Not by putting on a better product or drawing more money, but by signing one of their soon-to-be-ubiquitous exclusivity contracts with the Kiel Auditorium and thus preventing the NWA-affiliated St. – The Rougeaus are telling Montreal newspapers that they’re taking a one year sabbatical from wrestling before returning late in 1990. 94. 96. Dodge Iowa. Ted Dibiase & Virgil beat Dusty & Dustin Rhodes at 9:57. Day off from work today, so I’ve got some time to craft another Flashback! Your Spotify soundtrack for this one is Queensryche’s “Operation Mindcrime”, an album that it took me many years to get into, which is weird because I was a big fan of “Empire”. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. 96. – The top story is the apparent end of Pacific Northwest Wrestling, as the TV show was abruptly cancelled by the TV station after 38 years on the air. THE WAR IS ON. 08. Scanner. – In an understatement, Dave notes that the babyface side in the WWF is in a state of disarray, what with Scott Hall about to jump to WCW in late May once all his contractual stuff ends. 89. Jim Herd has already killed the wrestling business, and now he’s working on killing the magic business. Owen won with a Rocket Launcher on Tanaka. 03. No one tell Donald Trump. (1) Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom & Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich) beat Team Demolition & Mr. 16. – The first Saturday Night show is going to be taped on 10/3, and Dave expects to heavily feature the freakshow wedding of Uncle Elmer, which will likely be even worse than the Paul Vachon wedding. I guess I’ll just be typing one-handed. By Scott Keith on 5th February 2016. 12. 16. 28. 2. 94. – In the Deep South, the main guys are Wrestling II and Tommy Rich, and they run out of Georgia. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 96 And now it’s time for the issue that kicks off one of the biggest stories in the history of wrestling, although we didn’t. 31. Dave thinks it was counterproductive to kill off the Rockers like that. By Scott Keith on 27th October 2016. 7th. 04. – In the top story, Sports Illustrated had a story on the WWF in March, and no one in mainstream media really gave a shit. 95. Trying to power through this one before UFC 200. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 22. Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. By Dave Meltzer Nov 21, 2023. It’s the Observer issue so huge that Dave has to post it to the archives TWICE to make sure! So yeah, Flair got fired, let’s get back into it! – The Flair firing actually made the national news, with papers throughout the country picking up the story, with all coverage being sympathetic to Flair. ”. Ah, wrestling, where one guy can beat up another guy for real and flush his head. 87. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. He apparently gave WAR $1. So you picked a great time to start reading! – In the top story, Jerry Lawler was accused of being a very, very bad boy. 2022-03-05 07:34:36. 28. By Scott Keith on 19th April 2016. ” notes Dave. – Dave brings up the example of New Japan’s light heavyweight division taking off and Stampede Wrestling’s mid-heavyweight division, although of course Stampede tended to produce talent that left for greener pastures instead of. Back to the trenches after taking Friday off! And the big story this week is an abject lesson in John Lennon’s famous saying, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans”. Chip screwed up early, but it was decent by the end. – While the World title may not change hands, the US title certainly will, since post-Clash TV direction has Steamboat winning the title and suffering a shoulder injury in the process. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. 01. 94. Bruiser Brody (“Nobody gives an aura of violent realism. Wrestling Flashback publishes wrestling list videos, top 10’s, the history of classic. 92 By Scott Keith on 16th February 2017 Hey, I picked up a Nintendo DSi XL for $60 (Canadian) from EBGames and it’s pretty rad. 95 (Part 1) So after Dave takes a week off, it’s a DOUBLE ISSUE featuring Wrestlemania XI, the show that drew so much money that Dave needed a second issue to contain it all!Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Well this should do better than NWA Powerrr at least. We’ve gotta skip all of November due to more gaps, but at least I can now promise that everything from now on is 100% complete! And we didn’t miss Starrcade. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 21. – Anyway, moving on. By Scott Keith on 26th May 2016. 92 By Scott Keith on 20th March 2017 Hey, it’s another month with missing issues, as Dave has this one and the August 10 one on the site, and then it skips to September. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. And now, Dave would like to talk about PPV. 05. Mid Atlantic Gateway and Wrestling Observer historical files. Marc Mero pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 16:23. 96 By Scott Keith on 15th September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Back in the saddle with these again. 96 IT’S TIME. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. – Zulu was fired from World Class for refusing to do a job to Mike Von Erich. Severn. 90. 05. 96. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. They’re exclusively running small towns on the far Northern island of Japan, and mostly using lucha libre guys, which the mainstream papers didn’t really get. By Scott Keith on 9th September 2016. 96 Can I make it more than. – The big story this week is Dave’s preview of the Ultimate Ultimate 96!. – In the top story of the week, and in fact one of the top stories in wrestling history, Ric Flair was fired from WCW effective immediately when negotiations fell through. Slaughter for “stealing the character”. 05. So after Masa Chono won the NWA title tournament, Thesz did a press conference for UWFI where he agreed to award his old NWA World title belt to the winner of the UWFI World title match between Takada and Gary. 01. By Scott Keith on 1st January 2021. 17. 94 So it turns out that WCW’s record buyrate for Halloween Havoc wasn’t quite what they anticipated… – The buyrate for Havoc 94 currently sits at 0. 30, 1996 (Final Post for 1996) Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. 22. Back on track after our detour back to March yesterday. 48 buyrate (120,000 buys) for the Great American Bash in June, with WWF doing 0. 94. 28. 2. And since “long term thinking” these days is “three. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. And now, for the first time I can remember, the UFC gets the lead story. Ken Wayne found the body after.